Three years later, in the capital city, it was a midsummer day and the birthday banquet of Duke Jain Ning.

  In the leisurely and elegant music, the courtyard is filled with rare flowers and plants. In this festive and joyful atmosphere, women and young girls dressed in luxurious or dignified or majestic or charming attire are chatting and laughing together with young men in groups of three or four, amidst fluttering red silk and flying green ribbons, as cups and chopsticks cross each other.

  However, all the hustle and bustle came to a sudden halt with the arrival of a slender figure in a light blue dress. The crowd couldn't help but stare at the young woman, who appeared to be around 23 or 24 years old.

  She wore her hair tied back with a light blue ribbon, half of which fell loosely down the left side of her chest. A round silver tassel adorned with pink pearls hung from her ear, setting off her pale and flawless complexion even more beautifully. Her bright eyes sparkled as she blinked, like a peach blossom about to bloom. A faint, gentle smile played on her lips.

  Someone suddenly reacted and hastily bowed down to pay respects: "Greetings, Princess of Yueguo."

  Then, one after another, people paid their respects. Even the elegant and luxurious Madame Jianning, who was sitting in the center of the pavilion, surrounded by many guests flattering her, had to stand up reluctantly and bow down to say: "I pay my respects to the Princess of Yue."

  The young woman, about twenty-five or six years old, who was originally sitting next to her, showed even more jealousy and only responded with a slight bow. She lowered her face and remained silent, using the repeated sounds of courtesy to cover up her own sour and envious expression.

  "You're welcome." He Lian received these gifts with a calm attitude, whether they were reluctant, disdainful, mocking, indifferent or curious. But as soon as her voice fell, a not-too-big-or-small dissatisfaction jumped out from beside the wife of the Duke of Jianing:

  "How can there be a reason for calling one's own mother to pay respects? Isn't that afraid of heavenly punishment?"

  Before everyone could look around in shock and doubt, He Le'an calmly said, "Don't be afraid."

  "You!"

  That discontented voice was about to flare up in anger, but was timely stopped by the Lady of Jianning Hou. However, a young woman standing on the other side of the Lady of Jianning Hou sneered, "Eleventh, now that she's the high and mighty Princess of Junwang, who are we to her? Not only can't we call her 'mother' in a casual tone, but she looks down on this entire household of Jianning Hou. Why should we try to curry favor with her?"

  It's also possible to label her with the four big words "forgetting kindness and betraying righteousness". He Le'an lightly laughed and said: "When I married into a merchant family, you didn't even attend the wedding in Fengzhou City, let alone offer a simple congratulatory message."

  "Now that I've changed my status to become the King of Yue, you think I don't recognize my relatives anymore? Indeed, I was just a humble concubine's daughter and didn't dare to aspire to the esteemed House of Jianing. The me from before, you either ignored or despised with contempt; now, can you still afford to cling to me as you wish?"

  The lady of the Duke of Jianing said, "The princess of Yuejing is too serious. Although you were raised by the old lady since childhood, after all, you are from the Duke of Jianing's mansion. This place may not be as good as the humble prince's mansion, but it is still your home. If you want to come back, you can always come back at any time. The people in this mansion dare not make things difficult for you." She put on a compassionate and loving appearance, mediating the situation.

  "Yi'er is the same, you've been married for many years, how can you still be so muddled and noisy like your eleven younger sister!" scolded Madame Jianning. "Indeed, I am not the birth mother of the Princess of Yue, and over the years, I have not raised her either. From a public or private perspective, from a ceremonial standpoint, it's not unreasonable for her to call me 'Madame Jianning'. You all should stop being overly stubborn!"

  This sounds like no big deal, but thinking carefully is not pleasant at all. However, He Le'an saw that his elder sister He Le'yi and younger sister He Le'juan both reluctantly agreed, so he didn't bother to think about it anymore. At this time, the girl standing next to He Le'juan smiled and said:

  "I've long heard that the Princess of Yue is exceptionally clever, not only did she help the King of Yue capture three cities east of the Jade Gate Pass, but also no one can solve a riddle that she can't. Why don't we take advantage of the banquet not having started yet and have a riddle-solving contest?"

  To salvage the almost frozen atmosphere, the guests around them enthusiastically echoed, and He Le'an looked at the girl who was speaking, it was her second uncle's youngest daughter He Le Xuan. After her sisters got married one by one from the mansion, He Le Juan and He Le Xuan's relationship became closer and closer. At this time, she had a confident look on her face, presumably well-prepared, and then heard He Le Juan say with a pout:

  "Let's just say it out loud, what does it mean? It's not even as good as a couplet! " Finished, he also provocatively looked at He Le'an, "I think the clever and intelligent Princess of Yue is certainly not bothered to play word games with us. However, if you really aren't good at this, we can change to playing something you're good at."

  It's all good and bad, all said by her. He Lian'an suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, shrugged indifferently, and smiled lightly, "No big deal, I just like challenging things with difficulty, let's play your favorite word games then." The implication is that even if you use your expertise in word games to bully people, if you can't come up with anything, it means these years of being the princess of Yue County were wasted.

  He Le Juan hummed softly and said, "I know that the Princess of Yue has studied medicine. I happen to have a related couplet about medicinal materials. Would the Princess be interested in hearing it?"

  "You go ahead and say it."

  "He Shouwu rode the river dolphin into the great sea, wielding a magical whip to kill the wood thief for a thousand years. He can be called a long-lived immortal." He Lesan smiled and said.

  The guests around had not yet counted the number of medicinal herbs in the pairs, when He Le'an said: " 'White-haired old man riding a sea horse to Changshan wielding a large halberd, angrily fighting against the hundred combined forces, worthy of being a general and an elder statesman'."

  He Lesan was shocked by his agile speed and couldn't react, only to hear He Le'an calmly say with a smile: "Since Miss He Shier has done some research on medicinal materials, I'll also come up with a couplet related to medicinal materials. 'Yellow flower girl roasts grass heap熟地, loses windproof and burns into grass crow'."

  "What! He Le Xuan was taken aback and hastily looked at He Le Juan, wasn't it said that no one in the entire capital could match that pair? How did He Le An suddenly match them? Where did she come from with such a good understanding of medicinal materials?"

  He Lejuan didn't expect that He Le'an, who had been clumsy since childhood, would become so agile after not seeing her for a few years. She was stunned and only reacted after a while. However, she also didn't study medicine, and although she recognized the individual characters, she had no idea what they meant when combined. She looked to He Le'yi, who was skilled in this area, for help.

  However, He Leyi was quite skilled at couplets, but she didn't understand medicinal materials either. She couldn't help but scold them for shooting themselves in the foot by moving stones, and had to think hard about some common medicinal materials she knew, wondering if they could be linked together in a couplet. Just then, a male voice said:

  "Old Man White leads the cow over Changshan Mountain and encounters a slippery stone that breaks off the cow's knee."

  The sound of footsteps grew louder and closer, and the crowd followed the sound to see four handsome young men approaching. The one speaking was Yin Yishan, the son of the hospital director, who smiled at He Lian as he walked towards him under the admiring or envious gazes of the onlookers.

  "It's my turn to come up with a couplet, although I'd like to test the Princess of Yue, but the fun of the banquet lies in that one person enjoying themselves is not as good as many people enjoying themselves together. So I'll just come up with another pair of lines instead: 'Pear blossoms fall, spring remains'." She skillfully resolved the awkwardness between the He sisters.

  Walking beside him, a man of about twenty-four or five years old with an extraordinary appearance gave him a grateful glance. He then bowed to others and greeted Lady He Le'an before bowing to the Countess of Jianning: "Your son-in-law has seen you, Mother." This was Hang Minze, the heir of the Shengguo Duke's manor and also the husband of He Le Yi.

  He Le'an's expression was calm as he watched He Le'yi happily take Hang Min-ce's arm, and then took the next line: "After the geese have passed, it is deep autumn." In front of Hang Min-ce, she put away all her sharp claws and teeth, gentle and charming as if possessed by a ghost.

  He Le'an almost thought she was seeing things, after all in her previous life, there wasn't a single day where she wasn't ridiculed and abused for being infertile, it was just normal for her to be beaten and scolded, let alone how cruelly she treated the maids and servants, not to mention how much more cruel she would have been if she had seen Hang Mince favoring one concubine over another.

  Her gaze inadvertently swept across, and she saw He Leju occasionally glancing at one of the men who was traveling with Hang Minze, a very handsome young man with red lips and white teeth, looking like he was only fifteen or sixteen years old.

  Those who heard him being called Chu San knew that he was the eldest son of the newly appointed Minister of Rites, Chu Mo Ran. However, if she wasn't mistaken, he had already been betrothed to the eldest miss of the Qing Guo Gong Fu. As Qing Guo Gong was the brother of the Empress and the wife of Jin Ning Hou, she had often heard about the affairs of the Qing Guo Gong Fu, even after just returning to the capital.

  After a few rounds of confrontation, the awkward atmosphere had dissipated, and He Le Yi and her friends seemed to have forgotten about He Le An, freely showcasing their talents, making people look at them with new eyes, and continuing to indulge themselves. She found it boring, watching them was like watching little kids playing with mud and pretending to be adults.

  Especially He Le Xiang constantly praised He Le Juan, and He Le Juan in turn praised her. They shouldn't have sung the duet so obviously. At this time, someone exclaimed: "Lazi Wang! Shi Gong Zhu!"

  Later, people were all frightened and saluted, but He Le'an was still calm and unaffected. After they were pardoned, the about 20-year-old, handsome and elegant King of Lai, and the 16- or 17-year-old, beautiful Princess Di, turned around and saluted her: "Have you met the King of Yue?"

  Qin King is the current emperor's biological uncle. The king of Yueyang is naturally the current emperor's cousin, and the current emperor's children would naturally call her aunt. Moreover, both Qian Wang and the tenth princess are the biological children of the current empress, which shows that the manor of Duke Jianing still has some face.

  He Le'an smiled and said, "No need to be polite, I'm afraid that if I stay here for this lifetime, you won't be able to have fun. It's rare to have a lively atmosphere, don't let it go to waste. I'll go take a walk in another garden, it just so happens that it's been many years since I've gone to see my birth mother's old residence."

  When she heard this, Madame Jian Ning's face turned dark, but soon she hid her anger.

  He Le'an seemed to have not noticed. She turned around and left, the road of the Hou Mansion, she didn't forget, went to a remote and dilapidated small courtyard, her face was full of nostalgia, about the mother she had never seen, as if suddenly came alive, but also made her unable to hold back tears.

  She didn't leave until the maidservant from the Marquis's residence announced that dinner was served.

  When the banquet was over, she had wanted to leave immediately without lingering, but the maid stopped her way with a respectful attitude and said, "The king has asked the princess of Yue to wait for a while in the newly built banana pavilion."

  "...He Lu'an recalled the shameless guilt of Jia Ning Hou, so she had to temporarily stay and follow the maid to her unknown banana pavilion. However, soon she found something was wrong, the road twisted and turned, and gradually there were fewer people in sight. In her heart, she felt that even if Jia Ning Hou wanted to tell her a shocking secret, he wouldn't choose such a remote place."

  She became vigilant, wondering who was behind this, and the maid led her to a pavilion, handing her an exquisite sachet with an expression that didn't show any unusualness, "Summer is a season of many mosquitoes, please take care of yourself, I'll go get you some tea and pastries."

  He Le'an silently accepted the sachet, but as soon as the maid left, she directly threw the sachet far away. Not long after, a heavy and disordered footsteps echoed clearly in the silence. She raised her eyes to look, and saw that one of the men who came with Hang Min today was walking towards her with a drunken swagger, his mouth curved into a silly smile as he muttered to himself:

  "Ah, indeed! Indeed there's a beauty in the Banana Pavilion! Ah ha, you didn't deceive me, you didn't deceive me hahaha!"

  "Come on, beautiful, don't be afraid. I, Wei Da Shao, will definitely treat you well. Hehe, come give me a hug."

  However, before he could approach the pavilion, for some reason, he let out a miserable cry and fell to the ground in a dog-eating-excrement posture. The sound of his chin hitting the bluestone was particularly eerie, and he stared wide-eyed in extreme pain, just as his mouth was about to let out a pig-like scream. His movements suddenly froze, as if he had been struck by a acupuncture point.

  In the quiet night with no insect sounds, He Lian An blinked her eyes vaguely and called out softly to the void: "Qing Sen, was it you who moved?" Before she finished speaking, a surprised smile burst forth on her lips as she rushed towards the bright red figure descending from the sky, "Ye Ming!"

  "You're getting bolder and bolder, knowing it's a trick, yet you still follow." Zhong Sun Yue rubbed her nose without scolding her.

  He Le'an said, "If the dark guards by my side can't even solve a small conspiracy in a small marquis's manor, they would have been killed on their way back to the capital." You should know that on their way back to the capital under secret orders, all sorts of evil spirits and monsters emerged wanting to take their lives, but they still returned to the capital safe and sound.

  "There are many people coming this way."

  He Le'an's eyes gleamed with cunning as she smiled and said, "Hide this guy away, let's see who's behind the scenes, and then use their own methods to deal with them." With a snap of her fingers, the dark guard appeared and carried the person away, while she was picked up by Zhong Sun Yue and hidden in a dark corner.

  Soon, a large group of people arrived, including men and women, young and old. Many familiar faces were among them, and to her surprise, the leader was He Le Yi. Not seeing the expected scene, she felt somewhat disappointed, but quickly hid it away, looking around suspiciously, and asked Hang Min Ce beside her, "It's strange, the maid said Wei Shao was drunk and insisted on seeing the banana plant, but our Hou Fu only has banana plants here!"

  They searched for half a day but couldn't find the person they were looking for, and then left with a rustling sound.

  He Le'an's expression turned solemn as he said, "At first, I thought it was He Lejuan or He Lesan, but unexpectedly, He Leyi, who is also someone else's wife, is so vicious and deliberately wants to ruin me." If she didn't have any protection around her, after today's scheme, what awaited her would be a fate worse than death.

  Zhong Sun comforted her, "The Shengguo Gongfu is a humble family with outdated ideas. How could the Madame of Shengguo Gong not mind that He Leiyi has no children? It's just because the Duke of Jianing is favored by the Emperor, they don't dare to divorce He Leiyi, but behind her back, who knows how they mistreat her? He Leiyi and Hang Mince have been at odds for a long time, and their daily life is just an act."

  "Then let them no longer be able to play this game."

  **

  Dark guard exploration, He Leyi today will stay in Jianing Houfu, so Hang Min strategy will also leave later. The main banquet has already dispersed, but many close relatives are still left to chat and laugh, the atmosphere is getting more and more exciting, He Leyi suddenly has three urgent matters, excuses herself from the table.

  While An Wei was in the toilet, she directly knocked her unconscious and put her aside in a flower bush, then dragged out Wei Da Shao and threw him away, fed him medicine, untied his acupoints, and let Wei Da Shao entangle with He Le Yi who couldn't resist. When it was almost time, she screamed loudly in the dark. Coincidentally, He Le Yi woke up with a start because of the pain from being hit when the guests arrived.

  Facing a face that didn't dare to believe, He Leyi, who was stunned by Wei Da Shao's strength, only reacted and kept pushing him away. But after taking the medicine, it was Wei Da Shao who impatiently slapped her and said: "Just now you were very obedient, what are you making a fuss about? Now I'll give it to you, let you be so eager to die!"

  "No, no, ahah!"

  He Leiyin let out a mournful cry and struggled, while the guests who had gathered around finally came to their senses and separated them. Hang Mince, however, stood by silently, staring fixedly at his wife whose clothes were in disarray, revealing a large expanse of her chest, under the dim light of night, the green hat on her head gleaming with grease.

  He Luyu, who had just escaped, didn't care about her own miserable state and rushed to Hang Min's side, "No! No! It wasn't like that! Listen to me, husband, listen to my explanation! It was him, it was him!"

  "Ugh, get away from me!" Hang Minzi kicked her away in disgust. As He Leyi rolled around in the flower bushes, more of her body was exposed, and the crowd saw with burning eyes that a bright red and thick liquid was flowing down her thighs. "You filthy slut, don't sully my sight again!" With that, he turned and stormed off in anger.

  No!!

  He Le Yi was about to intercept Hang Min's strategy, but finally, the lady of Jia Ning Hou, who had come back to her senses from shock, ordered with a dark face, "What are you still dazed for? Quickly take off your shirt to cover up for the young master's wife!" On the side, Jia Ning Hou could only beat Wei Da Shao even more fiercely.

  The dazed and confused Wei Da Shao kept shouting amidst his pain: "It was her who seduced me!"

  **

  Qianqinwang Mansion, Zhiquyuan

  He Le'an sat by the window, gazing at the moon in a daze. Suddenly, a fresh and sweet aroma wafted into her nose, and she turned around to see Zhong Sunyue carrying a pot of obviously cooked wine, smiling at her: "Your favorite 'He Chi', I had someone bring it back from Fengzhou City, it just arrived today."

  When she was troubled, she often liked to drink hot wine. Later, he specially asked someone to brew some that tasted better when cooked, using all the plants outside Langyajiu that could be brewed into wine. He Lian'an opened his hands like a spoiled child, and he understoodly put down the wine and hugged her into his arms. "Ningming, in the previous life, it was I who committed the shame first, I was blinded by power and status, step by step walking towards the swamp."

  "I'd exhaust all means, getting myself battered and bruised, detested by ghosts and gods, even at the moment of death, I still wouldn't get what I want, not a single bit. So I thought, if there's an afterlife, I'll definitely be diligent and kind to others, willing to help, without any intention of harming others, not bowing down for power or status, and not thinking about things that don't belong to me."

  He Le'an said, "I didn't expect to be reborn. Before I was about to die, I asked to be sent to the Shengguo Gongfu as a concubine, to become the wife of He Le Yi and give birth to children for the Countess of Jianing. But she refused to let me go, fearing that I would lie, and secretly seduced Hang Mince, ruining He Le Yi's marriage. She insisted that I go to Xiangguo Temple to become a nun for three months."

  "Even if you're a girl dressed as a boy, I'll still recognize you."

  "But how could I have imagined that she had invited me to enter the Temple of the Goddess of Mercy with the intention of ruining my reputation? Later, Master discovered this and took me under his wing, raising me in a courtyard where none of the other disciples dared to enter without permission."

  "My master said I'm not very lucky. But if I make an effort to change, it'll be okay."

  She smiled and said, "At that time, I thought that if I stayed in Xiangguo Temple for the rest of my life, it wouldn't be bad either. There were fellow disciples who treated me with sincerity, a master who loved and taught me, and I could cook freely without anyone intentionally harming or mistreating me. I didn't have to be constantly on guard, and every day I slept soundly, occasionally having some disturbances in my dreams, but when I woke up, it was a new day."

  "In this life, I avoid the wealthy and powerful like a snake's skin, but you keep getting closer to me, warming me up, making me reluctant to let go again. Even so, I only want to stay by your side safely and stably. But... they always provoke me first, how I live is my business, why do they have to turn their envy into jealousy? It's not like I'm the one who makes them unhappy."

  "Now I think it's better to be on the border, with different stances from birth, fighting for one's own country, and going all out in battle. Calculating and scheming about the height of city walls, whether dark or bright, is also refreshing, unlike the minds of women, who feel you're showing off when you're happy, and get annoyed."

  "But I've started to enjoy the look on their faces when they can't take me down." He Lian pushed him gently, looking at his smiling eyes that seemed to have fallen into a sea of stars. "It seems that after being with you for so long, I've become bad too."

  "Such a child is even more lovely." Zhong Sun Yue bowed his head and kissed her lips. Every time his wife took revenge on others, she would reflect on whether she was too ruthless, but every time she reflected, the next time she took action, she would be just as ruthless, looking like she was born to do great things.

  He Le'an licked his lips and raised an eyebrow: "You've been sneaking a drink."

  "It's stolen for you." Zhong Sun Yue deepened the light kiss.

  After a few twists and turns, He Le'an said with some embarrassment, "Having smelled the wine, I'm actually getting a bit hungry."

  Jiang Sun Yu's lips curled up with a deep meaning, "I'm also hungry, but what I want to taste more is An Er's flavor." After that, someone transformed into a wolf and pounced on a certain little sheep that was speechless and rolling its eyes in exasperation!